Carat Loses $400 Million Account

Advertising Age - J&J Makes First Cut: Carat Loses $400 Million Account
Johnson & Johnson's global media review has yet to begin, but Aegis Group's Carat is already out: The agency's $400 million-plus North American buying and planning assignment on brands being acquired from Pfizer will go to J&J incumbents after the merger is finalized, the marketer said.
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But the scrap for J&J's $2.5 billion to $3 billion global media account is likely to be one of the most hotly contested reviews of next year. The major holding companies -- already laden with consumer-package-goods conflicts -- may have to contort their agency offerings in order to accommodate J&J's wide portfolio of brands.

There's some sort of weird end game going on here, more advertising agencies merge, more corporations merge, eventually, a conflict of interest arises, and somebody gets kicked to the proverbial curb. Hope nobody we know at Carat gets fired.